LITERASI B. ING which was first announced in 2017.

Since
AlphaZero is “more general” than the AI that
won at Go, in the sense that it can play
Bacaan untuk no 1-3
multiple games, “it hints that we have a good
chance to extend this to even more real-world
If you sit down to play an old-school
problems that we might want to tackle later,”
board game like chess this holiday season, it
Schrittwieser says. The network needs to be
might be humbling to keep in mind just how
told the rules of the game first, and after that, it
bad you’d be against a computer. In fact,
learns by playing games against itself. That
computers have shown they’re capable of
training took some 13 days for the game of
taking humanity’s lunch money at board
Go, but just 9 hours for chess. After that, it
games for a while now. Remember Deep Blue
didn't take long for it to start beating other
versus Gary Kasparov in 1997? The computer
computer programs that were already experts
won. Or AlphaGo against Lee Sedol, in South
at those games. For example, at shogi,
Korea, at the game of Go, in 2016?
AlphaZero took only two hours to start beating
In fact, Lee, a Go master, is retiring—
another program called Elmo. In fact, in a blog
and talking about how artificial intelligence is
item, DeepMind boasts that the AI is "the
unbeatable. He said: "With the debut of AI in
strongest player in history" for chess, shogi,
Go games, I’ve realised that I’m not at the top
and Go. This same algorithm could be used to
even if I become the number one,” the
play other "full information" games, like the
Guardian reported, citing the South Korean
game of hex, with "no problem," Schrittwieser
Yonhap News Agency. Last year, the same
says.
team that created AlphaGo (the algorithm that
beat Lee, four games to one, in 2016) The new AI is similar to the artificial
celebrated something more formidable: an intelligence system that vanquished Lee Sedol
artificial intelligence system that is capable of in 2016. That headline-grabbing tournament is
teaching itself—and winning at—three the subject of an excellent documentary, called
different games. The AI is one network, but AlphaGo, currently streaming on Netflix. It's
works for multiple games; that generalizability worth watching if the field of AI versus people
makes it more impressive, as it might also be interests you—or if the fascinating, ancient
able to learn other similar games, too. game of Go does. And while this is modern AI
research, board games have historically been a
They call it AlphaZero, and it knows
good way to test computers’ abilities, says
chess, shogi (which is known as Japanese
Murray Campbell, a research scientist at IBM
chess), and Go, a complex board game where
Research who authored a paper on the subject
black and white stones face off on a large grid.
of AlphaGo in the same issue of Science. He
All of these games fall into the category of
says that the idea of having a computer play a
“full information” or “perfect information”
board game dates back to 1950, and that by the
contests—each player can see the entire board
1990s, the machines were beating humans at
and has access to the same info. That’s
checkers and chess. “It took us decades of
different from games like poker, for example,
work on these games to reach the point where
where you don’t know what cards an opponent
we can perform them better than people,”
is holding.
Campbell says. “I think they’ve served the
“AlphaZero just learns completely on field very well; they’ve allowed us to explore
its own, just by playing against itself,” says techniques such as the ones used in
Julian Schrittwieser, a software engineer at AlphaZero.”
DeepMind, which created it. “And we get a
And the experience of working on the
completely new view of the game that is not
techniques used in AlphaZero will be helpful
influenced by how humans traditionally play
as the field aims at “more complex tasks,”
the game.” Schrittwieser is a co-author on a
Campbell adds. "And that was the whole point
2018 study in Science describing AlphaZero,
in the first place of tackling games—it wasn’t
for their own sake, but [because] it is a
constrained kind of environment where we can
make progress.” As for the human players,
even if Lee is retiring, he still has a “final
challenge" planned for December, according to
The Korea Times: he’ll be pitted against
another AI, called Handol, that was developed
in Korea.
1. Which of the following choices do you
think cannot replace the word
“vanquished”? (“The new AI is similar to
the artificial intelligence system that
vanquished Lee Sedol in 2016.”)
A. Conquered
B. Quelled
C. Crushed
D. Succumbed
E. Overcame
2. The fourth paragraph mainly talks about…
A. How the AI learns the game
B. The debut of AI in Go games
C. The AlphaZero took two hours to start
beating program called Elmo
D. Board game is a good way to test the
computers’ abilities
E. It took decades to finally be able to
beat humans at checkers and chess
3. Which is less likely to happen according to
the text?
A. Machines are able to beat humans at
checkers and chess
B. The AlphaZero also knows how to
play arcade games
C. Mr. Lee is going to compete as his
final challenge in December
D. It took less than two weeks for the
training for the game of Go
E. It took more than ten years to reach
the point where they can beat people
Bacaan untuk No 4-6
Earlier today, the 2020 Nobel Prize in
Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three
scientists, Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton,
and Charles M. Rice, who discovered the
hepatitis C virus. The Hepatitis C virus was
first discovered in 1989 and had previously
been called non-A, non-B hepatitis. Globally,
an estimated 71 million people currently are
infected with hepatitis C, which causes liver
disease. In 2016, nearly 400,000 people died
from cirrhosis and liver cancer as a result of
the virus.
Nobel-winner Alter, now at the US
National Institutes of Health in Bethesda,
Maryland, made the first giant leap towards
uncovering hepatitis C back in the 1970′s
when he isolated a third blood-borne pathogen
in addition to hepatitis A and B that could
transmit the disease to chimpanzees, the only
other susceptible host besides humans,
according to the Nobel Institute.
Next, Houghton, who was then
working for a pharmaceutical firm named
Chiron, collected DNA and RNA from
infected chimpanzees to try and identify the
mysterious virus. Houghton and his team then
put the collection of DNA into bacteria to see
if any of the bacterial colonies could recreate a
protein typically only created by the
mysterious virus, which would lead them to
the culprit causing the disease. Only one out of
a million colonies were able to code the
protein for the virus, and the researchers were
able to show that the virus belonged to the
Flavivirus family, and it was named hepatitis
C. Blood tests were developed, largely
knocking out any chance of the virus
spreading through blood transmissions,
according to Science Magazine.
Rice, then a researcher at Washington
University in St. Louis, took the final step in
proving that the virus alone could cause the
chronic disease seen in humans by testing out
genetic variants in chimpanzee livers,
according to the Nobel Committee. Now,
antiviral treatments for hepatitis C can cure
nearly 95 percent of infected patients. But as
of five years ago, there were 23.7 new
hepatitis C infections per 100,000 people
according to the WHO. Activities such as
injected drug use, using unsterilized medical
equipment, and sexual practices that can
expose a partner to blood are still common
transmission avenues.
Scientists hope that this prize will bring
momentum to research that’ll help rid the
world of the disease, as one Oxford biologist
tweeted. However, this prize does not come
without controversy, as Houghton has turned
down prestigious awards in the past for not
including his Chiron collaborators.
4. Based on the text, it is true that…
A. There are no controversies about this
year’s Nobel prize
B. There are roughly 500,000 people died
as a result of hepatitis C in 2016
C. Besides chimpanzees and human,
there are other susceptible hosts
D. This once-deadly disease can now be
cured with antivirals
E. Several colonies were found
successfully code the protein
5. What did Houghton work on this
discovery?
A. Collected other members to form a
research team
B. Joined Chiron, a well known
pharmaceutical firm
C. Examined the genetic variants in
chimpanzees’ livers
D. Collected the nucleic acids from
diseased chimpanzees and identified
the virus
E. Isolated the third blood-borne
pathogen
6. Alter made the first giant leap to the
_______ of hepatitis C in 1970
A. Discovery
B. Loss
C. Secret
D. Ascertainment
E. Location
Bacaan untuk No 7-9
Joel Cramer was at the pool with his
kids when another dad, competing in a big
splash contest, got up onto the diving board.
He bounced up once, and when he landed on
the board for the second time, his quadriceps
muscle tore. "It rolled up his leg and balled up
near the top of his thigh," says Cramer, a
professor of exercise physiology at the
University of Nebraska. That's an extreme
example of a muscle strain, a common injury
that happens to high school soccer stars,
recreational runners, and middle-aged
racquetball players alike. "Strain" is the
medical term for the condition, though it's
colloquially known as a pulled muscle.
The human body contains three
different types of muscles: cardiac, skeletal,
and. Of those, skeletal are the only ones that
we have control over-and thus, the ones that
we can injure. Skeletal muscles are made of
thousands-in some cases, millions-of muscle
fibers. These fibers are all bundled together
and wrapped in a sheath of connective tissues.
In a nutshell, a strained muscle means that
some number of the fibers that make up one of
your muscles tore. This ripping can happen if
someone pulls them too hard or too fast.
Muscles are also more likely to strain
while they are contracting. At this point,
muscles are shortening and lengthening at the
same time. During a dumbbell curl, for
example, raising the weight up towards the
shoulder compresses the bicep, and lowering it
back down stretches it back out again. The
muscle can create and sustain much more
force during the lengthening portion of the
activity, says Cramer, which makes it easier
for it to strain. Finally, muscles that have a
higher proportion of fast-twitch to slow-twitch
fibers strain more readily. Fast-twitch fibers
contract quickly and generate more power,
says Cramer. For that reason, they are the ones
recruited for explosive tasks like sprinting.
"It's relatively uncommon for slow twitch
[muscles] to strain," he says. "They're used to
being active all the time."
Low flexibility and range of motion
are major factors at risk for muscle strain, says
Cramer. Despite the popular belief that larger
muscles are tighter, Cramer says greater
muscle mass is actually associated with greater
give. "There's evidence to suggest that weight
training done with a good range of motion
increases flexibility," he says. And even
though it may not seem like it when you're
struggling to touch your toes, Cramer says
most people can teach their body to be springy
enough to do the splits. So, to help keep your
muscle fibers intact-pick up the weights and
don't skip your stretching routine, no matter
how tedious it is.
7. The word colloquially in paragraph 1 is breeding males fathered more chicks in their
best replaced by ... lifetimes than males in traditional parenting
A. Correctly situations. "Males that joined a 'coalition' may
B. Formally get access to higher-quality territories, nest
C. Particularly every year, and live longer," he explains. "So,
D. Properly they may not gain a lot every year, but
E. Exactly cumulatively it's better."
8. Based on the text, what is the main idea of
Barve does note that there are costs to
paragraph 3?
polygamy that are tough to calculate. But those
A. How strain occurs
might be counteracted by kin selection, which
B. How muscles work
is the bonus of helping siblings or their
C. Why muscle strain is dangerous
offspring survive to keep some portion of your
D. How to avoid muscles strain
genes in the pool. "Overall, the benefits of
E. What to do while experiencing
cooperation are likely higher than we
muscles strain
previously thought for acorn woodpeckers."
9. It can be concluded from the text that ...
So, if you do come across an acorn granary out
A. Our body has three kinds of muscles
west, spend an extra beat appreciating the
B. It is unlikely to strain for deep muscles
master planners that built it. "We don't
with specific functions
generally consider woodpeckers as intricate,
C. To prevent injury, make sure to
social creatures who think ahead," Barve says.
always stretch
"Now we know better."
D. Pulled muscle is a 5 percent tear of
fibers in a particular muscle
E. It is uncommon for slow twitch
muscles to strain 10. "We don't generally consider woodpeckers
as intricate, social creatures who think
ahead,", with this sentence, the writer
Bacaan untuk No 10-11 intends to say that...
A. Acorn woodpeckers are the master
Co-breeding is a common behavior in the
survivalist
animal kingdom where three or more adults
B. Woodpeckers are known of their
will help raise offspring. There are 800 to 900
amazing tree granaries
bird species that use this system, Barve says,
C. Co-breeding in woodpeckers are the
including red-cockaded and red-headed
same like other animals
woodpeckers. But acorn woodpeckers, which
D. It is impossible for researchers to
live in much of the Southwestern and Pacific
grasp the theories of woodpeckers
US, take the strategy to the next level: Both
E. Woodpeckers' ways are too hard to
male and female relatives (siblings, first
understand at first
cousins, and sometimes parents and progeny)
11. Which of the following is depicted in the
will produce chicks with the same mate, then
passage?
care for the nest and chicks together.
A. Some people thought that thousands of
That means each bird makes fewer mini-mes acorns drilled into trunk is a satanic
and passes on less of its own genes in a ritual
breeding season. (Co-breeders usually switch B. Acorn woodpeckers work with their
off making babies so there's a 50/50 split, own family to decrease its odds of
Barve says. If there's an odd number of eggs, survival
the woodpeckers find a way to even the score C. Granary is their own food storage
the next year.) In the long run, however, the which is exclusively made by and for
polygamous perks stack up. In his study, them
Barve and his team traced the bloodlines of
499 acorn woodpeckers and found that co-
 D. Kin selection helps to balance the
drawback of the polygamy
E. The caches need to be maintained over
time to keep it safe
Bacaan untuk No 12-14
Termites famously build ventilation
into their mounds, which allow them to keep
cool air flowing deep underground even on
scorching days in central Africa. But they're
far from the only animals to engineer their
own temperature-controlled homes. Birds'
nests help them stay warm. Mammals burrow
deep into the ground to escape the heat; so do
some types of tortoise. Even leaf miners, a tiny
insect you might find chewing paths across
your spinach leaves, create microclimates for
themselves in the interior of crops. "We're
really familiar with these things," says Michael
Dillon, an ecologist at the University of
Wyoming who studies how insects respond to
temperature. "Ask anybody about birds, and
you'll hear: 'they build nests." As obvious as
that might seem, there's very little research on
how temperature influences the way an animal
engineers their dwellings-and in turn, what
climate change might mean for those homes.
"We tend to think about climate as
something that's external to the animal,
something that impinges on the animal," he
says. "I think it's harder for us to change our
brains and realize that, no, they all modify the
climate they experience. The interaction
between the animal and its local climate is
really exciting and interesting, and potentially
understudied." That blank spot in our
understanding of animal engineering is the
subject of a recent opinion piece from Dillon
and a team of collaborators, published in the
journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution. There
are a few better-studied examples of thermal
engineering: zebra finches, which live across
most of Australia, build thicker, insulating
nests in cold climates, and thin-walled nests in
the heat. One of the few experiments that
actually tested the plasticity of nest
construction was done in alfalfa leafcutting
bees, a solitary species that pollinates alfalfa
plants. For less adaptable animals, those
homes could become a liability. Some cold-
weather species, including birds like the
yellow warbler, build their homes specifically
to keep themselves warm. "If you built a
structure to keep you and your young warm,"
Dillon explains, "and then the climate becomes
warmer and you have no ability to modify that
structure, you're essentially trapping yourself
in a hot spot rather than escaping the heat."
The issue is that researchers really don't know
how flexible most species' engineering will be
in the face of climate change.
12. The main issue of the text is ...
A. There is no deep understanding how
animals cope with climate change
B. Birds need to build nest to keep them
warm
C. Nests are usually designed to stay at
reasonable temperature
D. Some animals have the ability to
engineer their own homes
E. Nowadays global warming keeps
worsening living creatures
13. In the first sentence of the second
paragraph, the word "impinges" does not
have the same meaning with ...
A. Invade
B. Infringe
C. Ignore
D. Intrude
E. Influence
14. Which of the following is not true based
on the text?
A. Common stereotype is that human
tends to think that climate and animals
do not walk together
B. Just like animals, humans are also
reliant on climate
C. For less adaptable animals, their own
homes can be burden
D. The thermal engineering study has
been done on zebra finches
E. Climate change may affect the way
animals build their own homes
Bacaan untuk No 15-16
 More than 50 million people in the
United States provide birds with food-whether
they toss bread chunks to ducks or erect shiny
feeders in their backyards. But providing tasty
morsels to our neighborhood tweeters may
come with some downsides. Research has
found intentionally feeding our feathery
friends facilitates disease transmission,
enhances competition, and even hinders
breeding. To reach this conclusion, the
researchers observed 67 wild chickadees from
the fall of 2016 to early spring of 2017. Rivers
chose these small songbirds because they
typically frequent bird feeders throughout the
colder months. The chickadees were captured
and tagged with electromagnetic trackers and
underwent one of three flight-feather
treatments-a control group, a group with a
“light clipping” of two primary flight feathers,
and a “heavy clipping” of four flight feathers.
“We have very limited information on whether
birds that require more food, such as during
winter storms, might increase their reliance on
bird feeders. We can’t control winter weather,
but we can use techniques, like feather
flipping, that might offer clues about other
periods when energetic expenditure is high,”
Rivers says.
Every chickadee has nine flight
feathers, and when clipped at the base, flight
becomes more difficult. To continue fluttering
around, clipped birdies need more energy-and
therefore more food. These feathers grow
back, so next season the chickadees were able
to fly as normal. However, what they
discovered surprised them. Instead of loitering
around the feeders for longer, the hindered
whistlers actually decreased their use of the
man-made sunflower dispensers for the first
two weeks of wintry weather. However,
visitation rates eventually returned and by
week three all of the chickadees, clipped and
unclipped, were using the dispenser’s the same
amount.
While the researchers are unsure why
this happened, one possible explanation is that
the clipped birds had to adapt to their new
mode of flying before returning to graze at
feeders that often leave them more vulnerable
to predators. Chickadees also cache food away
for later and could have been munching on
stored away snacks. Finally, flying to the
feeders may have been too exhausting to
justify. Regardless, the study indicates birds,
even the hungriest ones, do not appear to
become dependent on human-provided seeds
and snacks.
15. Choose the sentence which doesn’t have
the same meaning with the word “loiter”
in paragraph two
A. Even though it was really dark, he still
chose to loiter around the
neighborhood
B. I know that he had his own reason for
not letting us to loiter along the way
C. He always like to loiter around while
his wife preparing the meal
D. He loiters over his homework until the
next morning
E. Do you see that man? He always
loiters around this station
16. Which of the following is not written in
the text?
A. Feeding food can also bring several
drawbacks to birds
B. They used feather flipping technique
in this study
C. The clipped birds managed to adapt
their own way to fly
D. They managed to find the result how
the birds act on cold winter
E. The study concludes that birds do not
always rely on human to feed them
Bacaan untuk No 17-20
TEXT 1
In 2010, researchers estimated that 8
billion kg of plastic entered the ocean in a
single year, and that number would sharply
increase by 2025. When it enters the ocean,
plastic waste disrupts marine ecosystems,
travels to central locations, and forms a trash
island that can cover an area of more than 1.6
million square km. These plastics never
degrade, but rather break up into smaller sizes.
They eventually become microplastics that
stay in the environment for hundreds of years.
 Scientists at the University of
California San Diego have invented a new
biodegradable material that is designed to
replace commonly used plastics. The material
started to biodegrade in seawater within four
weeks. The team found that various marine
organisms colonize the material and break it
into nutrients for their consumption.
The research of this new plastic is
joined by experts in biology, chemistry, and
marine science. They have shown that it is
possible to make durable plastics that also can
degrade in the ocean. Plastics should not be
going into the ocean in the first place. But
now, if they do, this new plastic can become
food for microorganisms and not harmful
trash.
Adapted from: https://www.sciencedaily.com/
TEXT 2
Plastic is everywhere and important to
the growth of many industries, such as
packaging, building, and automotive. About
83.5% of consumer products rely on plastic in
some way. Food without plastic packaging
would spoil long before it reaches consumers'
fridges. PVC pipes made of plastic are an
essential building part that reduces leakage and
corrosion to conserve water and energy.
Plastics make cars dramatically lighter, which
increases fuel efficiency.
Researchers have been working to
improve the plastic recycling process since it
was realized that plastic was harming the
environment. Recycling plastic not only helps
the environment and reduces trash, but it also
creates more jobs. The recycling sector
generates up to 30 times more jobs than the
common disposal sector. In fact, Tellus
Institute reports that over 1.5 million new jobs
would be created if the national recycling rate
could be increased to 75%.
Modern recycling techniques can
transform plastic into more useful products.
Some experts have seen the opportunity to
make jet fuel from plastic. However, even a
simple recycling strategy has commercial
benefits. Over 3 million plastic bottles have
already been converted into pillow fillers by
IHG Hotels & Resorts. Customers are happy to
sleep well and use a product that benefits the
environment, according to IHG. And it is all
thanks to plastic.
Adapted from: https://thisisplastics.com/
17. Which of the following statements is an
opinion from Text 1?
A. These plastics never degrade but
rather break up into smaller sizes.
B. Recycling plastic not only helps the
environment and reduces trash, but it
also creates more jobs.
C. Plastics should not be going into the
ocean in the first place.
D. They eventually become microplastics
that stay in the environment for
hundreds of years.
E. Customers are happy to sleep well and
use a product that benefits the
environment.
18. What is the relationship between Texts 1
and 2?
A. Text 1 discusses the biodegradable
material used in many useful products
explained in Text 2.
B. Text 1 explains how biodegradable
material can help improve the plastic
recycling process discussed in Text 2.
C. Both texts explain what scientists have
done to provide plastics that do not
harm the environment.
D. Text 2 explains how new plastic
material mentioned in Text 1 is
recycled to create more jobs.
E. Text 2 discusses the plastic recycling
process that the research findings have
improved, explained in Text 1.
19. Based on information from the two texts,
which of the following will most likely
happen in the future?
A. Plastic waste in the ocean is
unavoidable.
B. It is impossible to preserve customer
food without biodegradable plastics.
 C. Disposing of plastic waste into
seawater will create more job
opportunities.
D. Marine organisms can be used to
recycle plastics into pillows.
E. There is no need to completely ban
plastic usage from this world.
20. Which of the following statements
accurately summarizes the findings and
implications presented in the given texts?
A. Text 1 emphasizes the urgent need for
innovative solutions to combat plastic
pollution, while Text 2 underscores
the economic significance and
recyclability of plastic materials.
B. Text 1 suggests that plastics are
inherently harmful to marine
ecosystems, while Text 2 argues for
the responsible use and disposal of
plastic products to minimize
environmental impact.
C. Text 1 discusses the detrimental
effects of plastic waste on marine life
and proposes a sustainable alternative,
while Text 2 explores the economic
benefits and creative applications of
plastic recycling.
D. Text 1 highlights the success of recent
research in creating biodegradable
plastics, while Text 2 examines the
potential for plastic recycling to
generate substantial employment
opportunities.
E. Text 1 emphasizes the need for stricter
regulations on plastic production,
whereas Text 2 advocates for
increased consumer awareness and
responsibility for plastic consumption.
KUNCI’ L.BE
1. D
2. A
3. B
4. D
5. D
6. A
7. C
8. A
9. C
10. E
11. D
12. A
13. C
14. B
15. D
16. D
17. C
18. C
19. E
20. C